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Don't use tahini. The sesame paste must be Asian not Middle Eastern. You can use part Asian sesame paste and part peanut butter but the original recipe, I believe, did not use peanut butter. For thinning of the paste its a good idea to use oolong tea (brewed and cooled) together with soy sauce. Those are my suggestions. I'm not familiar with using sambal in this dish either.

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First, it should not be bitter. It should be slightly sweet and nutty. There shouldn't be any whole seed, as it is a smooth paste. It has the feel of fresh ground peanut butter (not the standard, supermarket emulsified stuff). You need to stir it up, as the oil separates.

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ok, i'm thinking i overstated the bitter aspect a bit much. i just tried it again. yes, it's nutty, sweet, almost like peanut butter. i don't know if bitter is the right word. it has an intense finish, that's for sure.

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I used to use a very good Ken Hom recipe for this dish, from a book I have since given to a friend so it's not on the shelf to check, but I think began with sesame seeds roasted, toasted, whatever, in a dry pan and ground up with the other whole-type ingredients, and maybe peanut butter as well, and other seasonings similar to Tommy's list.

Using Asian vermicelli noodles makes a diff, to me, (don't know if you did or not, Tommy), and then it's just working out your personal idea of what is balance between the nut paste, the hot, the sweet, the salty, or, the balance in the dish you wish to emulate. Plus texture, don't forget texture.

And, on the rancid front, it is not at all uncommon to open a new jar of tahini, even one purchased from a high-turnover Middle Eastern market, and find rancidity. When you taste a jar that is correctly fresh and mild and nutty, you will never ever doubt your own ability to discern this difference.

Like with coffee, when you get, either by accident or design, really really fresh high-quality beans you know all at once that most of the coffee you've been drinking your whole life has been at least a little rancid.

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Ken Hom has a recipe for Chiu Chow Noodles in Sesame Sauce in his book, Fragrant Harbor Taste. He uses dried Yi Fu noodles or dried or fresh thin egg noodles and blanches them for 2 minutes, until barely soft, drains them and tosses them with a little sesame oil.

For the sauce, he combines Chinese sesame paste, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, a little sugar, chicken stock and a little salt, brings it up to a simmer, cools it slightly and then tosses with the noodles.

He says to use a smooth peanut butter if you can't find Chinese sesame paste, but not to use tahini.

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In my desperate search for a good sesame sauce recipe, I sent a letter to my favorite restaurant back home begging for its recipe. I assume the lack of response is because they didn't understand my letter. There was a thread on cold noodles a while back. Not much more help than here.

One think I can tell you, Tommy -- don't use tahini. For the love of all that's holy, don't use tahini.

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i always find it interesting to go back to old threads. generally i'll see a name i haven't heard from in a while and i have to wonder where they went. intelligent and helpful posters like jon marcus in that last thread, for example. you still out there dude?

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Today is 小年 (xiǎo nián) which literally means 'little [new] year', but is something more. It takes place approximately a week before Chinese New Year (February 16th this time round - Year of the Dog) and is the festival for the Kitchen God

In traditional animist Chinese thought, there is a god for everything and the kitchen god is responsible for all aspects of, you guessed, the kitchen. Once a year (today), the kitchen god pops back to report to the god of heaven on the happenings of the last 12 months. Therefore we have to placate him so he makes a good report. My neighbours are busy preparing offerings of sticky rice and assorted sugary confections for the god, so that when he eats them, his teeth and lips will stick together and he will be unable to report any bad behaviour. An alternative theory suggest the sugary stuff will sweeten his words. Then we'll be OK for another year!

These have been mentioned a couple of times recently on different threads and I felt they deserved one of their own. After all, they did keep me alive when I lived in Xi'an.

Rou jia mo (ròu jiá mò; literally "Meat Sandwich") are Chinese sandwiches which originated in Shaanxi Province, but can be found all over China. Away from their point of origin, they tend to be made with long stewed pork belly. However in Xi'an (capital of Shaanxi), there is a large Muslim population so the meat of choice is more usually beef. In nearby Gansu Province, lamb or mutton is more likely.

When I was living in Xi'an in 1996-1997, I lived on these. I was living on campus in North-West University (西北大学) and right outside the school gate was a street lined with cheap food joints, most of which would serve you one. I had one favourite place which I still head to when I visit. First thing I do when I get off the train.

What I eat is Cumin Beef Jia Mo (孜然牛肉夹馍 zī rán niú ròu jiá mò). The beef is stir fried or grilled/BBQd with cumin and mild green peppers. It is also given a bit of a kick with red chill flakes.

Here is a recipe wrested from the owner of my Xi'an favourite. So simple, yet so delicious.

Lean Beef

Fairly lean beef is cut into slivers

Sliced Beef

Chopped garlic

I use this single clove garlic from Sichuan, but regular garlic does just fine.

The beef and garlic are mixed in a bowl and generously sprinkled with ground cumin. This is then moistened with a little light soy sauce and Shaoxing wine. You don't want to flood it. Set aside for as long as you can.

Mild Green Chilli Pepper

Take one or two mild green peppers and crush with the back of a knife, then slice roughly. You could de-seed if you prefer. I don't bother.

Chopped Green Pepper

Fire up the wok, add oil (I use rice bran oil, but any vegetable oil except olive oil would be fine) and stir fry the meat mixture until the meat is just done.

Frying Tonight

Then add the green peppers and fry until they are as you prefer them. I tend to like them still with a bit of crunch, so slightly under-cook them

In with the peppers

You will, of course, have prepared the bread. The sandwiches are made with a type of flat bread known as 白吉饼 (bái jí bǐng; literally "white lucky cake-shape"). The ones here are store bought but I often make them. Recipe below.

Bai Ji Bing

Take one and split it. Test the seasoning of the filling, adding salt if necessary. It may not need it because of the soy sauce.

Nearly there

Cover to make a sandwich and enjoy. You will see that I have used a bunch of kitchen paper to hold the sandwich and to soak up any escaping juices. But it should be fairly dry.

The final product.

Note: I usually cook the meat and pepper in batches. Enough for one sandwich per person at a time. If we need another (and we usually do) I start the next batch.

Bread Recipe

350g plain flour
140ml water
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

Mix the yeast with the flour and stir in the water. Continue stirring until a dough forms. Knead until smooth. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and leave to rise by about one third. (maybe 30-40 minutes).

Knead again to remove any air then roll the dough into a log shape around 5cm in diameter, then cut into six portions. Press these into a circle shape using a rolling pin. You want to end up with 1.5cm thick buns.

Preheat oven to 190C/370F.

Dry fry the buns in a skillet until they take on some colour about a minute or less on each side, then finish in the oven for ten minutes. Allow to cool before using.

Last week, Liuzhou government invited a number of diplomats from Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar/Burma, Poland, and Germany to visit the city and prefecture. They also invited me along. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday introducing the diplomats to the culture of the local ethnic groups and especially to their food culture.

First off, we headed two hours north into the mountains of Rongshui Miao Autonomous County. The Miao people (苗族 miáo zú), who include the the Hmong, live in the mid-levels of mountains and are predominantly subsistence farmers. Our first port of call was the county town, also Rongshui (融水 róng shuǐ, literal meaning: Melt Water) where we were to have lunch. But before lunch we had to go meet some people and see their local crafts. These are people I know well from my frequent work trips to the area, but for the diplomats, it was all new.

So, I had to wait for lunch, and I see no reason why you shouldn't either. Here are some of the people I live and work with.

This lovely young woman is wearing the traditional costume of an unmarried girl. Many young women wear this every day, but most only on festive occasions.

Her hat is made from silver (and is very heavy). Here is a closer look.

Married women dispense with those gladrags and go for this look:

As you can see she is weaving bamboo into a lantern cover.

The men tend to go for this look, although I'm not sure that the Bluetooth earpiece for his cellphone is strictly traditional.

The children don't get spared either

This little girl is posing with the Malaysian Consul-General.

After meeting these people we went on to visit a 芦笙 (lú shēng) workshop. The lusheng is a reed wind instrument and an important element in the Miao, Dong and Yao peoples' cultures.

Then at last we headed to the restaurant, but as is their custom, in homes and restaurants, guests are barred from entering until they go through the ritual of the welcoming cup of home-brewed rice wine.

The consular staff from Myanmar/Burma and Malaysia "unlock" the door.

Then you have the ritual hand washing part.

Having attended to your personal hygiene, but before entering the dining room, there is one more ritual to go through. You arrive here and sit around this fire and wok full of some mysterious liquid on the boil.

On a nearby table is this

Puffed rice, soy beans, peanuts and scallion. These are ladled into bowls.

with a little salt, and then drowned in the "tea" brewing in the wok.

This is 油茶 (yóu chá) or Oil Tea. The tea is made from Tea Seed Oil which is made from the seeds of the camellia bush. This dish is used as a welcoming offering to guests in homes and restaurants. Proper etiquette suggests that three cups is a minimum, but they will keep refilling your cup until you stop drinking. First time I had it I really didn't like it, but I persevered and now look forward to it.

This may not look like much, but was the star of the trip. Rice paddy fish, deep fried in camellia tree seed oil with wild mountain herbs.
We ate this at every meal, cooked with slight variations, but never tired of it.

Stir fried Greens

Our meal was accompanied by the wait staff singing to us and serving home-made rice wine (sweetish and made from the local sticky rice).

Everything we ate was grown or reared within half a kilometre of the restaurant and was all free-range, organic. And utterly delicious.

Roll on dinner time.

On the trip I was designated the unofficial official photographer and ended up taking 1227 photographs. I just got back last night and was busy today, so I will try to post the rest of the first day (and dinner) as soon as I can.

The three-hour journey north from Miao territory ended up taking four, as the driver missed a turning and we had to drive on to the next exit and go back. But our hosts waited for us at the expressway exit and lead us up a winding road to our destination - Buyang 10,000 mu tea plantation (布央万亩茶园 bù yāng wàn mǔ chá yuán) The 'mu' is a Chinese measurement of area equal to 0.07 of a hectare, but the 10,000 figure is just another Chinese way of saying "very large".

We were in Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County, where 57% of the inhabitants are Dong.

The Dong people (also known as the Kam) are noted for their tea, love of glutinous rice and their carpentry and architecture. And their hospitality. They tend to live at the foot of mountains, unlike the Miao who live in the mid-levels.

By the time we arrived, it was lunch time, but first we had to have a sip of the local tea. This lady did the preparation duty.

This was what we call black tea, but the Chinese more sensibly call 'red tea'. There is something special about drinking tea when you can see the bush it grew on just outside the window!

Then into lunch:

Chicken Soup

The ubiquitous Egg and Tomato

Dried fish with soy beans and chilli peppers. Delicious.

Stir fried lotus root

Daikon Radish

Rice Paddy Fish Deep Fried in Camellia Oil - wonderful with a smoky flavour, but they are not smoked.

Out of Focus Corn and mixed vegetable

Fried Beans

Steamed Pumpkin

Chicken

Beef with Bitter Melon

Glutinous (Sticky) Rice

Oranges

The juiciest pomelo ever. The area is known for the quality of its pomelos.

AFter lunch we headed out to explore the tea plantation.

Interspersed with the tea plants are these camellia trees, the seeds of which are used to make the Dong people's preferred cooking oil.

As we climbed the terraces we could hear singing and then came across this group of women. They are the tea pickers. It isn't tea picking time, but they came out in their traditional costumes to welcome us with their call and response music. They do often sing when picking. They were clearly enjoying themselves.

And here they are:

After our seranade we headed off again, this time to the east and the most memorable meal of the trip. Coming soon.

I just got a copy of Grace Young's "Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge"—I enjoyed cooking from "Breath of a Wok" and wanted to continue on that path. Does anyone else have this book? Have you cooked anything from it?

Here was dinner tonight:

Spicy Dry-Fried Beef (p. 70)

I undercooked the beef just a bit due to a waning propane supply (I use an outdoor propane-powered wok burner), but there's nothing to complain about here. It's a relatively mild dish that lets the flavors of the ingredients (and the wok) speak. Overall I liked it, at will probably make it again (hopefully with a full tank of gas).